Miller, Shannon

▪ 1995

      During the 1992 summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, a 15-year-old U.S. gymnast, Shannon Miller, drew worldwide notice by earning two silver medals and three bronzes—more than any other U.S. athlete won at Barcelona. By 1994 she had secured more Olympic and world championship medals than any other U.S. gymnast in history.

      Miller was born on March 10, 1977, in Rolla, Mo. At an early age she began taking gymnastics classes and competing. She won her first junior division meet when she was 11, scoring three firsts at the 1988 U.S. Classic. When she was 13, she won the all-around title at the Catania Cup competition in Italy by gaining gold medals in the vault, beam, and floor-exercise events and a silver in the uneven bars. She continued to accumulate honours during the following years, frequently winning the all-around title.

      Unlike many gymnasts, Miller did not have a specialty—she was noted for her versatility. At the 1991 world championships, she was the first-ever U.S. female gymnast to qualify for all four of the individual events. She succeeded in winning two silver medals there. After the Olympics, Miller really came into her own; from 1992 to 1994, she dominated women's gymnastics. She possessed the petite physical proportions that were ideally suited for the sport, and she was able to execute all the maneuvers with precise technical expertise. Her performances were also enhanced by her dynamic, yet graceful, ballet-inspired style.

      In late 1994 she experienced some setbacks, however. At the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia, she failed to take the all-around title; it was the first time in two years that anyone had been able to defeat her in that category. Even more devastating was the gold-medal sweep by another U.S. gymnast, Dominique Dawes, at the national gymnastics championships in August. Gymnastics enthusiasts murmured that Miller's age (17) and size (nearly 1.5 m [5 ft]—tall by gymnastics standards) had begun to be a handicap. In November she withdrew from the world team championships, citing exhaustion. With the 1996 Olympics drawing nearer, however, the history-making gymnast seemed determined to win her spot on the U.S. Olympic team. (ELIZABETH LASKEY)

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